


What Could’ve Happened

by HiImNotAnAuthor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter Friendship, Dracos dad is a dick, Gay Draco Malfoy, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Physical Abuse, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Whump, the Dursley’s are dicks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:35:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22247224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiImNotAnAuthor/pseuds/HiImNotAnAuthor
Summary: Draco has a mental breakdown in the boys bathroom and Harry is there. Friendship ensues. Maybe more? Much angst. Much vulnerability. Read the tags. WIPIt’s been a while since I’ve seen/read these so pardon any inaccuracies and please tell me so I can fix them.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Kudos: 68





	What Could’ve Happened

Harry looked at the bathroom door as it opened seeing Draco stride in looking smug. He wiped his hands on his shirt to dry them and started towards the door when the blonde cut him off.  
“What do you want, malfoy?”  
He huffed.  
“Well I was just taking a stroll when I thought I saw another troll go into the bathroom. Turns out I was right.”  
Harry shook his head and tried to walk passed him but Draco reach out and shoved his shoulder, sending the brunet back a few steps.  
Harry pushes him back; pissed off and loosing his temper.  
The Slitheryn smiled and pulled out his wand, shooting a spell wizzing passed the other boys head.  
Harry cursed and drew his wand.  
They circled in a fighting stance until Harry’s back was to the door, then Draco let off another spell.  
The griffindor countered it, the streams of light meeting in the middle and exploding in a spatter of sparks.  
The wizard quickly sent Draco’s wand flying across the room.  
The blonde, not giving up the fight, ran up to Harry and shoved him again, harder this time, then stepped back waiting for a retaliation.  
His face was one of determination.  
Harry threw down his wand stomping up to Draco, making him back up until they were almost to the far wall.  
“What the hell is wrong with you Malfoy?!”  
He yelled, getting in Dracos face.  
Draco swallow; an unreadable expression in his face.  
“ I said, what the hell-“  
He was cut by the Dracos lips meeting his.  
Harry pushed the boy off him, bewildered.  
“Why did you do that?!”  
Draco looked back at him like a frightened mouse. His demeanor had completely changed.  
His hands started to tremble, as he brought them down to his sides and just started at Potter.  
Harry stepped back again and narrowed his eyes.  
“What kind of game are you playing?”  
The blond looked at the ground and mumbled,  
“ I’m not playing a game.”  
He looked smaller than he normally does.  
“ Then what was that?!” Harry said, throwing his hands in the air.  
Draco flinched at the movement and muttered a “sorry.”  
The brunet took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  
“What are you trying to pull?”  
There was silence for a few seconds then the slytherin started to laugh. He looked up at Harry.  
“I can’t believe you fell for that!” He snorted.  
But potters frown turned into concern. Though Draco was laughing, he was shaking and Harry could see tears brimming in his eyes. Even the laugh itself seemed forced and made him feel uneasy.  
Harry waited until his laugh died out then said quietly, “what’s going on draco?”  
His fake smile fell and he turned his head away as a tear slid down his cheek, then dripped off his chin.  
“I’m confused.” Harry stated, to no one in particular. He was again met with silence.  
The griffindor sighed. “Do.... Do you like me?”  
Draco let himself be help up by the wall. He nodded, eyes down and still trembling.  
“Then why do you always fight with me?”  
Harry said, his voice raising again.  
Draco flinched and looked up desperately.  
“ I’m a prat because then you hate me, and if you hate me I can hate you. But if I don’t hate you, I like you.”  
The end of the sentence trailed off into a whisper.  
“I’m so confused” the boy repeated.  
Harry did a circle, then decided to sit on the floor. Draco slid down the wall next to him, instinctively hugging his knees.  
Harry looked at the shaking figure in front of him.  
“Why are you so scared?” He asked.  
Draco looked up at his glasses and said, “I don’t want you to hurt me.”  
Again, Harry was confused.  
“Why would I hurt you?”  
Draco exploded. “Because everyone does! Every time i care about someone they hurt me.”  
He set his arms back around his knees.  
Harry nodded trying to get it. He could tell this was going to be a long conversation so he reached for his wand and locked the door behind them.  
Draco jumped at the sound of the lock click.  
He looked from Harry to the door, fingers tugging at his pants.  
“I just didn’t want someone to walk in’” Harry explained.  
The blond nodded but continued to fidget and stare at the door.  
“....Do you want me to unlock it?”  
The boy thought for a minute before nodding again.  
Harry mutter a spell and pointed at the door, hearing it click open.  
Dracos shoulders eased a bit.  
“Now,” Harry began, “ these people, you said they hurt you. Do you mean like emotionally, or mentally, or ... physically?”  
Draco let out a bitter chuckle.  
“All of the above? Why do you even care, you hate me.”  
His voice cracked in the middle of the word hate, and his eyes started to flood again.  
“I don’t hate you, malfoy, I just don’t like you.”  
They sat in silence for another few seconds.  
“What happened?”  
Draco shifted uncomfortably and tugged unconsciously at his left sleeve.  
“It doesn’t matter.” He mumbled.  
Harry’s eyes went down to the sleeve Draco was pulling at, that momentarily showed a purple dot on the ivory skin. He reached for it to inspect further, but Draco shrunk away.  
“ I promise I won’t hurt you Draco.”  
Harry looked him in the eyes, and hoped the pale boy would believe him.  
Slowly, He released his arm to be examined.  
Pulling up the green and black fabric revealed a spatter of yellow and purple bruises, along with a few white thin scars, and a few thicker crimson cuts.  
Harry took a sharp inhale when he saw this. Draco always seemed so in charge, but now he just looked small.  
“Is um.. is anything broken? Or do you need a bandage?”  
Draco shook his head side to side, trying to read the other boys expression.  
The brunet reached for the other arm and pulled up the sleeve. It was similar, except for the purple hand print on his bicep.  
Harry ran a finger over it and Draco winced.  
Harry pulled away his hands and put them in his lap, looking at the blond intensely.  
He finally spoke, “ Draco..”  
“Why are you letting me bother you? Do you want something from me?”  
“You aren’t bothering me. Believe me, I would tell you. I just want to understand.”  
Draco pulled his knees up to his chest.  
“You can’t understand.”  
Harry looked at his hands. “You might be surprised, Draco. Ive has people in my life who were supposed to care about me, and well... they didn’t.”  
He looked up at the slytherin then said  
“I’ve been hurt before too.”  
Draco looked in his eyes for any sense of malice, or the set up for some joke, and he found none.  
Harry broke the silence. “Who hurt you?”  
Draco felt his eyes sting as memories flashed in his head. He looked at the space above Harry’s head and answered.  
“Well.... you know how my father is. If something isn’t perfect, he’ll.... get very angry.”  
Harry nodded knowingly. He’d dealt with the head of the Malfoy house before.  
Suddenly the griffindor remembered seeing Draco’s father walking around the school earlier this week with a sour look on his face. From what he had heard, the man had come to visit for a few days and just left two days ago. No wonder Draco was on edge.

“I’m sorry Draco. No one deserves that. “  
Images from his time living with the Dursleys flashed through his brain.  
He got in fights with them. Not often, but it did happen. And he wasn’t allowed to fight back or defend himself because it would just make it worse for him later.  
So he just stood there and took it.  
“I don’t want your pity, Potter.” Draco said bitterly, but his face revealed his worried state of mind.  
“I don’t pity you. I understand you. And it’s not right.”  
He got no reply.  
“You said people... is there someone else?”  
Draco looked up, taken off guard.  
He nodded slowly.  
“Who is it? Are they in the school?”  
Draco nodded again.  
Harry racked just brain of all the people he had seen the slytherin with. All of the blonde’s friends looked up to him. He was always in charge; Harry couldn’t imagine any of them getting the better of Draco.  
“ I um. I don’t want to talk about it.” He mumbled into his arms. Harry nodded.  
“Do you want to talk about anything else?” Harry said, starting to get up.  
Draco didn’t move.  
Harry sat back down and said “if there is something else you wanted to say that’s okay.”  
The blonde looked up at him. “Why are you listening to me? Why do you care?”  
Harry thought for a minute.  
“Because you are a person just like everyone else. You do what you do for a reason. No one is mean just to be mean. There is something behind it. Even when you were rude, I never could hate you. No matter what you did. I think I knew I was missing something. I think I knew you weren’t just a bad guy.”  
Draco looked at him for a minute then got up. “So you don’t hate me? I always thought you did. I gave you reason too.”  
Harry got up as well.  
“No Draco. It wasn’t your fault. You were hurting. I don’t hold it against you, now that I understand.”  
They walked out and stole glances at each other before they went there separate ways.  
—————


End file.
